China's Xi urges Japan to "rein in behaviour" amid dispute

China's Vice-President Xi Jinping at a meeting at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing in this Aug 29, 2012 file photo. Mr Xi said on Wednesday that Japan should "rein in its behaviour" and stop undermining China's sovereignty, state news agency Xinhua said, as tensions flared after a territorial dispute between the two countries. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

BEIJING (REUTERS) - China's leader-in-waiting, Mr Xi Jinping, said on Wednesday that Japan should "rein in its behaviour" and stop undermining China's sovereignty, state news agency Xinhua said, as tensions flared after a territorial dispute between the two countries.

Mr Xi said Japan's "purchase" of the disputed islands was a farce, Xinhua said.

"Japan should rein in its behaviour and stop any words and acts that undermine China's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Mr Xi said in a meeting with visiting United States Defence Secretary Leon Panetta, according to Xinhua.

Tension had run high on land and at sea, with four days of major protests in cities across China and Japanese and Chinese boats stalking each other in waters around a group of East China Sea islands, known by Japan as the Senkaku and by China as the Diaoyu.